I Will Be the One to Fix You
by HDWren
Summary: Zoe Morgan tries to fix the man she loves. Finch/Zoe Carter/Reese Inspired by Homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed" A little bit of a continuation of those stories but not entirely. AU. Events take place after "Bad Code"
1. Chapter 1

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed" **_

Zoe Morgan is a fixer. She's not extremely found of the term – she doesn't like the short quick word to describe her dangerous line of work. But as much as she hates to admit it, she is in fact simply a fixer; She fixes other people's problems. Good people, bad people, it didn't really matter to her. And she knew the risks of her choice of profession. She had suspected that she would make plenty of enemies and perhaps a few allies, but she never considered the possibility of two men saving her and changing her life forever.

It has been a few months since John Reese and his imaginary friend stepped into her life. Truth to be told, she was glad that they did.

John Reese. One of the men two men who saved her life. Strong, tall, extremely gorgeous and handsome John Reese. In the beginning, she had toyed with the idea of trying to seduce him but it was clear that he was in love with another woman. It wasn't an issue for Zoe – she enjoyed watching the romantic tension between John Reese and Joss Carter play out. Besides, she loved someone else; the other man who had saved her life.

Harold Finch. The boss of John Reese and the genius behind their operations. Not drop-dead gorgeous like his partner, but subtly handsome in his own way. His bright blue eyes and short, dark, spiky hair always seem to make Zoe smile. In the short time Zoe has known him, she finds herself liking the short man more and more.

They have an odd relationship to say the least. They almost never discussed their work while they were together; rather they just enjoyed each others company. It wasn't even until recently they felt like they could call what they had a "relationship".

Then Harold had been kidnapped by a madwoman. Zoe's choice of profession has a tendency to bring a lot of stress, but it was nothing compared to how she felt when she realized he was taken.

He was gone for only 48 hours. Two days. And yet, it was the worst 48 hours she had ever experienced. Not knowing if he was alive or dead –

But he was back; that was all that mattered. And they had both admitted that they loved the other. Everything should have gone back to their version of normal. But it didn't.

Zoe knew from the moment when she was reunited with Harold that something was eating away at his mind. He was more anxious, paranoid and scared than he normally was. Shell shocked to say the least. Zoe understood that his emotions were a response to the traumatic events, but she worried for him. She worried that he would lose himself to his paranoia.

Even if he returned to his normal cautious self, where did that leave their relationship?

* * *

Zoe makes her way through the busy streets of Manhattan. Any other day she would have liked to be driven but today she feels like a walk. Besides, walking gives her time to think and it's a nice evening. As she walks, she contemplates how to help Harold. It's been four days since he has been rescued from Root and it's clear that the events of his kidnapping have left him shaken up. At first Zoe didn't push the man she loved to talk about what had happened, but it was obviously he needed some sort of help. As she reached the library, she looks around cautiously before entering. She makes her way through the library and comes to the place she knows he will be. Bear looks up at her as she enters the room and Zoe smiles at the dog. She walks over to where Harold is sitting at his computers and can't stop smiling as she approaches.

"Hello Harold." Harold in turn looks at her and returns the smile.

"Zoe," He replies, slowly and carefully standing up to greet her. He's smiling but his eyes betray him as she can see the pain in his back and leg taking a heavy effect on him. She wraps her arms around him and holds him close to her. "Are you alright?" She asks quietly.

"I'm alright now," Harold replies softly, stroking her hair softly with one hand and holding her close to him with the other. Zoe closes her eyes and after a moment they release each other from their embrace. It is then she notices the blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around Harold's injured hand.

"You're bleeding." Zoe says and she feels a small stab of sadness as Harold subconsciously hides his injured hand behind him slightly; a sign of distrust.

"It's fine." Harold replies, a bit gruffer than he has intended. Seconds tick by as they stand facing each other.

After a moment, Zoe gently takes Harold's good hand and leads him into the next room where some of the medical supplies are. He takes a seat in one of the chairs and Zoe grabs a first aid before she sits down across from him. Taking his injured hand, Zoe carefully takes off the old bandages. Zoe proceeds to clean the wound, making sure it will not become infected. She takes a moment to look at the wound. It extends all the way across his palm and will for sure create a scar when it heals. Another scar. As if he didn't have enough to begin with. She carefully wraps his hand up in gauze and they sit in silence.

"Thanks." Harold says after Zoe finishes. She nods in return and looks at Harold with a worried look. He looks mentally drained and tired, but slightly at ease. Zoe considers her options for getting Harold to feel more relaxed and decides that distraction is the best choice. For now at least.

"Where's John?" Zoe asks casually, "Is he out trying to save the world?"

"Not at the moment. He and Detective Carter are having dinner together." Harold replies.

"Perhaps we should join them," Zoe responds with a sly smile. But the idea of leaving the library makes Harold tense and Zoe sees the fear reflected in his bright blue eyes.

"It's alright Harold," Zoe says softly, moving to sit next to Harold. She takes his hand his hers and leans her head against his chest. She hasn't known Harold very long, but she knows him well enough to realize that right now he needs to know that someone is there with him. Someone to reassure him that he's not alone anymore. Someone he can trust. Harold puts his free arm around her and she responds by snuggling her head deeper into his chest.

"It's alright Harold," Zoe mumbles quietly again, squeezing Harold's hand in a reassuring manner. _Is it?_ Harold thinks to himself.

* * *

**A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this story! I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this quite yet, and suggestions and criticism are always welcome. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the wait.  
**

_**Inspired by Homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed"**_

Zoe makes her way down the street towards her favorite place to eat. It has become her morning routine to meet Carter for breakfast. They are not exactly what one would call "friends" but they enjoyed talking and Zoe could sense that they would probably be friends in the future. As Zoe walks into the restaurant, she instantly notices Carter sitting at one of the tables in the back. She makes her way over to her, sitting across from the Defective.

"Morning," Carter greeted Zoe, sipping her coffee.

"Morning," Zoe returns the greeting, picking up a menu but not really looking at it.

"You have a busy day today?" Carter asks after a moment, trying to get a conversation going. Zoe just shakes her head.

"No, my schedule is clear for today," Zoe responds. "What about you?"

"I've got a few cases to wrap up. I should finish it pretty fast unless the boys need me for something." Carter rolls her eyes at the last part of her statement and Zoe can't help but smile.

"How is John doing anyway?" Carter glances around slightly before answering, almost as if she is afraid Reese is standing behind her.

"He's doing fine – or at least his version of fine. He's really just concerned about Harold." Carter answers and Zoe considers Carter's statement for a moment.

"Is Harold holding up alright?" Carter asks out of general concern.

"He's doing better. Still a bit jumpy but he's alright. But something is definitely eating away at his mind. I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with these recent events. But he dodges the question every time I try to bring it up." Carter nods her head in understanding.

"Men, always trying to hide their feelings," Carter thought for a moment before continuing her statement. "I'm sure that it's nothing too major. He just needs time to recover." Before Zoe can respond, Carter's phone begins to ring. She glances down at it before sighing.

"It's the station; I'll talk to you again soon." Carter says as she stands up, leaving the money for her coffee on the table. Zoe wishes her a good day and watches as Carter leaves. She decides to go back to pretending to read the menu, Carter's words echoing in her head. _He just needs time to recover._ Was that really all he needed?

* * *

Zoe spends the rest of her day wondering through the streets. She's careful though while walking around – she knows all too well how many enemies she has made. She considers trying to do something to entertain herself because she knows that she might not have another day off anytime soon. It was one of the perks and horrors that came with her line of work. Some days she had nothing to do while other days were filled with research, observation, studying, and trying not to get killed.

But the idea of occupying herself remains an idea as she decides to continue enjoying her stroll around Manhattan. It's a cool evening and the sun slowly makes its way behind the skyscrapers, turning the sky orange and casting a silhouette on the tall buildings.

Zoe eventually finds herself standing in front of a library that technically doesn't exist. She looks up at it for a moment before entering. She makes her way through the library and climbs the stairs where she knows he will be. As she makes her way down the hallway, she can see him sitting at his desk staring at his computers. Bear raises his head as she draws near, but he knows she is a friend and he puts his heard back down. Hearing Bear move, Finch turns to face Zoe and smiles when he sees her. He stands up and embraces Zoe and her lips brush his cheek.

"I wasn't expecting you to come." Finch says as he releases Zoe and she smiles at him, mesmerized by his unique voice.

"I wasn't doing anything, so I thought that I would drop by." Zoe responds. She takes a moment to look around. All five of Harold's computer monitors are on, each full of news articles and complex computer analyses. The huge glass pane has pictures and articles covering it and arrows pointing to different papers. Zoe took in all of the information as a sign that Harold and John were in the middle of a case; and by the looks of it, a complicated one.

"Hard case?" Finch raises his eyebrow slightly at Zoe's question.

"To say the least, yes."

"You want to take a break?"

"I actually have plans to meet with John and the Detectives to go over some details about the case," Finch says slowly and disappointment reflects in Zoe's eyes. His next statement makes her smile though. "Would you like to join us?"

"Sounds like a plan." Zoe responds. '_Harold. Such a gentleman'_ Zoe thinks to herself. The look in Harold's eyes makes her smile drop slightly though. There's a calculating look in his eye that makes her feel uneasy. Well, he always look like he's calculating but this is different. Something is bothering him – something that he doesn't want her to know.

"Zoe?" Harold's voice snaps her back to reality. She looks at him, confused.

"Huh?" '_Crap. He's not going to let me live this down'_ Zoe thinks to herself. Finch chuckles slightly at Zoe's confusion.

"I said, 'Are you ready to go?'"

"Yes." Grinning, Finch offers her his arm. She takes it, and together they leave the library.

* * *

Fusco can't sit still in his chair. He's at a diner with Carter and Reese, and the romantic tension between them is almost unbearable._ Least I'll have Mr. Glasses to keep things not so awkward between these two love birds _Fusco thinks to himself. Neither Carter nor Reese had announced their relationship to anyone, but it was painfully obvious. Fusco is considerably surprised that wonder boy hasn't been bragging about dating the beautiful detective. It was funny to him how awkward they were together in public, but it was also increasingly uncomfortable. Fusco shifts in his seat again, checking his watch. He taps his thumbs on the table, looking out the window for Finch. When he does see Finch, his mouth drops open slightly.

"Something wrong Lionel?" Reese asks, seeing the shocked look on Fusco's face.

"Is Finch seeing someone?" Fusco asks. Carter looks up at him and hesitates. Before anyone can say anything, Fusco can see Finch entering the diner, hand in hand with an elegant looking woman. As they walk towards them, Fusco can't help but stare at the woman with Finch.

"Detective Fusco," Finch begins as he and Zoe arrive at the table, "I don't believe you have had the honor of meeting my girlfriend, Zoe." Carter, Reese and Zoe all share a quick glance at each other – None of them had declared their relationship like this before. _My girlfriend Zoe. _Zoe smiles at Harold's statement, and she holds her hand out to Fusco.

"Nice to meet you Detective." She says politely. Fusco continues to stare and it took him a moment to respond.

"Nice to meet you too. And you can call me Lionel." Fusco responds, shaking her hand. Finch then proceeds to pull out the chair for Zoe and then he takes his seat. Fusco glances at them, wondering how awkward things were going to get. Carter and Finch sat opposite him, Reese and Zoe with Reese across from Carter and Finch across from Zoe. A silence falls over them as no one knows what to say.

"So, we still don't know if Goodwin Stanhope is the victim or perpetrator?" Carter begins, trying to get them all on task.

"We have reason to believe that he is the victim, as well as the perpetrator." Finch commented.

"I found a gun in his apartment." Reese accords.

"An illegal gun, or is it registered to him?" Fusco asks.

"Illegal." Reese answers.

"Know who he is after?" Fusco continues.

"That's if he is after anyone at all. It could be for protection." Finch retorts.

"It could be for both." Carter adds. Zoe watches them all discussing with a keen interest. It is fascinating watching all of them discuss and compare notes. To her, it is captivating to see their individual thought process as they all tried to work through the same problem. Only stopping their conversation when the waiter came to take their order, their discussion about the latest number ended shortly after they each received their food. They had spent their time well, and they had come up with a few possible theories regarding what kind of trouble the latest person of interest had gotten himself into. With all of them still eating dinner, another silence has fallen over them.

"So," Carter begins, trying to move the conversation away from business. "How was everyone's day?" Everyone glances around, waiting to see who walk answer first.

"Are you kicking me, Mr. Reese?" Finch asks Reese, his eyebrow slightly raised.

"Opps sorry Harold." Reese replies with a grin and both Carter and Zoe try not to laugh. Even Fusco smiles. Of course, when Reese tries to nudge Carter under the table he ends up kicking Finch. For the rest of the evening, the five of them chat and trade stories. They laugh at times, and each one enjoying some time to get away from the seriousness of their work. After a while, Carter glances at her phone to check the time.

"It's getting late. I should go." She says and the rest of them nod. The check is divided between Fusco, Reese and Finch and once their dinner is paid for, all of them leave. Reese and Carter depart first, holding hands as they leave. Zoe grins and makes a mental note to tease Carter about it the next time they see each other.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." Zoe says to Fusco and she shakes his hand.

"The pleasure is mine." Fusco responds. They part ways, and Zoe's fingers finds Harold's as they begin to walk to the apartment they shared. Their hands interlock and Finch squeezes Zoe's hand softly.

"I had a lovely double date." She reflects, smiling. Finch turns the best he can to look at her.

"A double date plus Fusco." He jokes and they both laugh.

"Plus Fusco." She agrees. They continue walking, both still smiling at their 'double date plus Fusco' joke. But when Zoe turns her head to look at Finch, she catches a glimpse of something in his eyes. Something is still bothering him.

**A/N II: Wow, there are more "Zinch"/"Minch" fans out there than i expected. Thank you everyone who left a review. It is much appreciated. :)  
**

**I hope that you will pleased to know that I know where I want to go with this story, so updates should be pretty frequent. (Hopefully - Ill try my best to update as soon as possible.) Thanks for understanding.  
**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Have a great day.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed" **_

It's a nice morning in Manhattan. The sun is peeking out from the horizon, sending an orange glow everywhere. Zoe is sitting at her usual spot at her favorite, pretending to read the menu but really enjoying the sunrise. Zoe looks up from her menu as she hears someone walking towards her.

"Good morning Joss." Zoe greets with a smile.

"Morning Zoe." Carter replies, smiling back. She takes a seat opposite Zoe and Zoe puts down her menu.

"You look tired." Carter says, raising an eyebrow in concern. Zoe shakes her head slightly.

"It's been a long week to say the least. It seems like everyone needed help getting out of some sort of trouble this week." Carter nodded, ignoring that fact that the majority of the people Zoe has helped probably were trying to get out of legal issues.

"You ever figure out what's bothering Harold?" Carter asks with general concern.

"No. But whatever it is, it's still tormenting him." They sit in silence for a moment before Zoe speaks again. "So, how's John?"

"He's good." Zoe can hear the hesitation in Carters voice.

"What happened?" Zoe asks seriously. Carter hesitates again before speaking.

"Well, nothing really 'happened'; it's just that my son Tyler found out about us." Carter confesses. Zoe tries to hold back a grin.

"Now how did that happen?" Zoe smiles, trying to picture how Carter's son could have found out.

"He caught us kissing." Carter mumbles slightly, looking away. This time Zoe can't resist laughing.

"It could have been a lot worse." She says still laughing.

"Oh, it could have been so much worse." Carter looks back at Zoe smiling slightly. Her statement makes Zoe raise her eyebrow, but she doesn't say anything.

They chat for a while longer. They don't really talk about work too much, but they talk about other things. Normal conversations like good books, movies, and they swap funny stories. As they part ways after eating breakfast, Zoe smiles to herself. She never expected to have a normal life. What she has now is far from normal, but she likes how her life is unfolding. It is nice to have a friend to talk too. Zoe smiles to herself again. Who knew that meeting two men could have changed her life this much?

* * *

Zoe spends the rest of the day working. It's a lot of work but she enjoys what she does – most of the time. Before she knows it, it's late at night and Zoe finds herself in need of a ride. She walks for another block before she hears a familiar voice behind her.

"Need a lift?" Finch asks and Zoe turns around to face him.

"Following me?" Zoe replies smiling, walking towards Finch.

"I was around." Finch answers Zoe, giving her a grin. As she draws near to him, he puts his arms around her and kisses her. Zoe laughs, and Finch smiles back at her. Taking her hand, he begins to lead her to his car.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Finch asks, although he already feels like he knows the answer.

"Yes." Zoe recommends, confirming what Finch had assumed. They arrive at Finch's car and he opens the passenger door for Zoe before climbing into the driver's seat. He starts the car and begins driving.

"How was your day? Who needed saving today?" Zoe asks. Finch shrugs in response.

"Uneventful. John and I were faced with the irksome task of watching a Wal-Mart greeter." Finch replies, a bit of irritation in his voice.

"Any sign of a threat?"

"Besides getting a sore throat from saying 'Welcome to Wal-Mart', no." Finch answers drily and Zoe can't help chuckling to herself. They sit in a peaceful silence, and Zoe looks out the window and watches as the buildings go by.

"Are we going to my place?" Zoe questions after a moment.

"Yes. Unless you don't want to…"

"No, it's fine." Zoe does her best to hold in a sigh. Though they had been dating for a while, Finch still subconsciously refuses to let Zoe into his personal life. He did trust her, and she knows he loves her but his paranoia is still keeping her away. She had no idea who he really was. He did tell her some things about himself, but she still felt like there was a major part of him she did not know.

They drive the rest of the way to Zoe's apartment in silence. Once they arrive, they get out of the car and make their way up the stairs to Zoe's apartment. Once inside, Finch turns to face Zoe.

"So, what would you like to do tonight?" Finch inquires politely.

"Let's watch a movie." Zoe answers and Finch tilts his head slightly, considering her idea.

"Which movie?" Zoe hesitated for a moment. There is a movie she has been wanting to see for a while…

"The Exorcist." Zoe finally answers and smiles at Finch's expression, which is a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Interesting choice of movie." Finch observes, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. Zoe smiles again and goes to find her copy of the movie. Finch makes his way to the couch and sits down, waiting for Zoe. After a few moments of watching Zoe trying to find the movie Finch speaks up.

"You do know that I can download the movie and stream it to your tv right?" Finch comments and Zoe turns around to face him.

"No, I don't want to do anything illegal tonight. I did too many illegal things today." Zoe mumbles the last part to herself, but from Finch's expression she knows that he heard her.

"I could also buy it online." He says after a moment.

"That will probably be the best idea." Zoe agrees and Finch nods. Zoe sits down next to Finch as he buys the movie online and they begin to watch it together. It's an old movie, but Zoe finds herself gripping onto Finch's arm in fear. He glances at her occasionally, enjoying her presence. He likes how she holds onto him – he likes knowing that she trusts him to protect her. He puts his arm around her and she snuggles against him. They don't talk much while watching the movie, but towards the end of the movie Finch can't help himself.

"_The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!"_

"Well, this is taking a while." Finch comments and Zoe laughs. "_The power of Christ compels you!"_

"It's a never ending chant." Finch sighs and Zoe looks up at him.

"And seriously, why is the older priest out of breath? He said his line only three times before he sounds out of breath." Finch continues, his annoyance showing through his voice.

"You analyze things too much." Zoe replies, leaning her head against his shoulder again. Finch looks like he wants to say something else, but he remains quiet. They watch the rest of the movie in silence and Finch doesn't speak again until the credits come on.

"Well that was entertaining." Finch remarks slightly sarcastically, but Zoe can tell that he really did have a good time watching the movie with her.

Zoe stands up and stretches a little, her body slightly stiff from sitting still for a while. She looks down at Finch and can tell from his expression that he can't get up on his own. She holds out her hand to him and he hesitates, but after she gives him a stern look he takes her hand. Zoe helps pull him to his feet and she can see his pain reflecting in his eyes.

"You alright?" She asks, concern filling her.

"I'll be alright." He gives her a tight smile, and she nods. Zoe turns to start walking towards the bedroom but Finch reaches out and takes her hand, stopping her.

"Zoe," He says quietly and Zoe turns to look at him. There is a look in his eyes that she has never seen before.

"You connect me to the world." Those six words make Zoe freeze. It is by far the most loving statement anyone has ever told her. She feels different, almost better. Suddenly, in that moment, Zoe realizes that Finch also connects her to the world.

Finch places his hands on Zoe's hips and she finds herself wrapping her arms around Finch's neck, pulling him closer. He leans down and kisses her and she kisses him back. They break from the kiss and Zoe rests her head on his shoulder. She can smell his ridiculously expensive cologne and she breaths it in deeply, never wanting him to leave. He kisses her lightly along her neck and Zoe can't help but moan softly. He moves his hands through her hair and then he runs his hands down her spine slowly, following the curve of her body. She reaches up and puts her hand behind his head, slowly pulling him closer to her. Swiftly, Finch leans down slightly and picks up Zoe despite his pain and physical limitations. She laughs and puts her arms around his neck, holding him close. Finch smiles at her as her carries her to the bedroom.

* * *

Slowly, Zoe wakes up from her deep sleep. Keeping her eyes closed, she takes a deep breath and starts to drift back into sleep.

Zoe wakes up again a little while later, and this time she decides to stay awake. She opens her eyes to find her head on Finch's chest. She looks up and finds Finch is watching her, a smile on his face. She notices that he is wearing his glasses, and has probably been up for a while.

"Watching me sleep?" Zoe asks playfully, leaning her head against Finch's chest again.

"Is that wrong?" He asks still smiling.

"Creeper." Zoe jokes and Finch chuckles.

"What are you thinking about right now?" Zoe asks after a moment.

"I'm thinking about how beautiful you are right now." Finch answers quietly, stroking Zoe's shoulder with his hand. Zoe's smile broadens and she leans up to kiss him. He wraps his other hand around her and Zoe notices as pain flickers across his face. Her smile instantly disappears.

"What's wrong?" She asks, sitting up. Finch hesitates, almost as if he didn't want her to know.

"My hand has been aching a bit," He began slowly and Zoe takes his right hand in hers and examines it. The cut on his hand is mostly healed and there are no signs of infection as far as Zoe can tell. But she stares at the scar and looks up to see Finch looking at his scar too, thinking deeply about something. It's the same calculating look that he has had the past couple of days. Zoe curses silently to herself. She wished that Finch would tell her what was bothering him so much. But before she could ask what is bothering him, his phone begins to ring. He leans over and grabs his phone from the night stand and checks the message. He reads it quietly and then gets out of the bed and starts to quickly get dressed.

"It's the latest number," Finch explains to Zoe as he gets dressed. "Apparently someone just tried to kill him." As Finch finishes getting dresses, he walks over to Zoe and kisses her goodbye.

"I'll call you later." He says and then turns and starts to limp for the door.

"Go save the world Harold." Zoe calls to him as he leaves. She hears the door open and close again and knows that he is gone. Zoe lies back down on the bed, a sadness tugging at her heart.

"Why do you refuse to talk to me Harold?" She asks the air softly.

* * *

**A/N: Well, what do you think? Love it, hate it, have suggestions or any sort of comment? Please review. And to everyone who has reviewed, thanks! I really do appreciate comments. :)  
Thanks everyone for being patient - as always i will do my best to update as fast as i can. **

**Also, please let me know if you catch any spelling/grammar mistakes.**

**A/N II: If the whole "Exorcist" thing seemed just random, it was an inside joke requested by one of my friends/followers. So if it didn't make much sense, don't worry about it. ;)**

**Have a great day fellow Irrelevants. **


	4. Chapter 4

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed"**_

"Did you hear me Zoe?" Carter asks and Zoe jumps, lost in her own thought.

"What?" Zoe replies startled, not aware Carter had been talking about her. Carter doesn't reply instantly, instead giving Zoe a worried look.

"You need to talk to Harold." Carter advises quietly.

"Everything's fine." Zoe answers, trying to convince herself more than Carter. Carter responds by raising her eyebrow slightly.

"You know I'm right." Zoe sighs, knowing that Carter_ is_ right. Carter is right most of the time.

"I don't know what to do," Zoe mumbles, running a hand through her hair. Her hand catches a knot, and she winces as she pulls her hand free. Carter doesn't seem to notice.

"Talk to him." Carter says again.

"About what?" Zoe returns a bit harsher than she has intended. Carter spreads her hands in defeat.

"You tell me." Zoe takes a deep breath and tries to collect her thoughts.

"He's almost always thinking about something. I don't know what, but it's important. To him at least," Zoe shakes her head as she continues, "I don't know. I still feel like he keeps me at arm's length sometimes. I know he has trust issues, but we've been together for a while now…" Zoe trails off and Carter nods slowly.

"I should talk to him." Zoe says, considering her statement.

"Yes, please talk to him." Carter begs and Zoe smiles.

"I will." Zoe promises and Carter smiles.

* * *

It takes Zoe a lot longer to find Finch than she originally thought. After being sent to voice mail twice, Zoe proceeds to look for Finch in the places where he normally is. She checks the library first but finds that Finch isn't there. She looks in a few other places but her search is useless. Zoe considers calling John but decides against it. John probably has better things to do than to help her track down her boyfriend. For a moment she fears that something has happened to Finch again but dismisses the thought. If anything like that happens again she knows that Reese would tell her. Zoe continues to search and after about two hours, she finally finds him in Washington Square Park standing near the giant water fountain in the middle of the park. What he is doing in the park is irrelevant to her and she's just glad that she found him. He notices her as she walks in his direction and smiles.

"Hello Zoe." Finch greets and Zoe returns his smile as she approaches him.

"You're a hard man to find." She comments and Finch shakes his head slightly in apology.

"Sorry." Finch says honestly and Zoe nods.

"It's fine." Zoe takes a deep breath, switching from a lighthearted tone to a serious one.

"Listen Harold, we need to talk." Finch's smile falters slightly and the look in his eyes tells her to continue. "I feel like your hiding something from me." At that statement, Finch's smile disappears completely. He opens his mouth to say something but Zoe continues before he has a chance to talk. "I feel like you're not telling me something. Something important. And I feel like we are at a point in our relationship where we can openly talk about these sorts of things and be honest with each other." Finch remains silent and Zoe can't help but fear what he is going to say. A minute passes and Finch remains silent. "Harold, please say something." Zoe pleads, but Finch still remains quiet. Zoe can feel her emotions rising as she waits for Finch to say anything. He opens his mouth to say something, but stops. He looks away, not wanting to meet Zoe's eyes.

"Zoe, I –" Finch hesitates, at a loss for words.

"Please, just be honest with me." Zoe begs quietly and Finch carefully tries to plan how he is going to say what he wants to say. But the look in Zoe's eyes makes him blurt it out without thinking.

"I can't do _this_ anymore." _Fuck. _Finch really hadn't wanted to phrase it like that. Zoe stares at him, not knowing what to think.

"Can't do what?" She asks, although she already knows the answer. But she can't bring herself to believe what she is hearing.

"Us. I just, can't," Guilt rushes through Finch as a tear begins to silently run down Zoe's face.

"What–" Zoe stutters, still not believing her ears. Finch suddenly becomes blurry as tears gather in her eyes. Finch tries his best to explain what is going through his head.

"Look, I'm sorry Zoe but I can't…" Finch trails off, looking away not wanting to show his emotions.

"But-" Zoe begins but Finch interrupts her.

"I can't." He says firmly. Zoe silently vows to slap him if he says 'I can't' again.

"I need you!" Zoe nearly shouts and takes a step closer to Finch. Finch takes a step back, keeping his distance from her. Zoe feels like someone is smashing her heart to pieces.

"Yes well, in the end we're all alone," Finch turns slightly to leave but stops. "And no one's coming to save you." Finch turns around completely and takes a step to leave but Zoe grabs his arm.

"You don't believe that." The tears are gone, and her voice is hard. She doesn't know if she's trying to convince herself or not but she says it anyway. Finch manages to force himself to meet Zoe's eyes as he replies. His deep blue eyes manage to hide his emotions.

"Yes, I do." Finch turns to leave once more but Zoe grabs his arm again, roughly pulling him back to face her. Finch stumbles slightly, putting too much of his weight onto his bad leg. In any other situation Zoe would have felt bad but the only emotion she is able to feel at the moment is anger.

"Bullshit. I know you, and I_ know_ you don't believe that." Finch looks down at Zoe and she wishes she knows what he is thinking.

"You don't know anything about me." Finch retorts quietly, and his words cut Zoe deeper than she ever could have imagined. She releases his arm, to stunned to do anything. Finch turns begins to limp away and Zoe watches him leave. Paralyzed by her feelings, Zoe can barely process what just happened. The anger inside of her is extinguished, leaving her feeling empty. Some of the other people in the park witness to the argument look around, not sure how to respond. After a moment, some of them go back to whatever they were doing and Zoe continues to stand completely still, not knowing what to do. She slowly becomes conscious of the few people watching her, and she looks around at them. Ignoring their looks of pity, she quickly tries to compose herself. Hurriedly, she dries her tears with her sleeves and swiftly walks away.

As Zoe quickly departs from Washington Square, her emotions begin to catch up to her. But she takes a deep breath and holds back her tears, not wanting to cry in public. The journey home feels like the longest trip ever. But she eventually makes it home, and when she does she almost sprints into her apartment, tears threatening to leave her eyes.

She makes a run for the shower as soon she makes it inside her apartment. Standing in the shower, letting the water run down her body, she breaks down completely. Her tears mix with the water, concealing the tears rolling down her face. She tries to convince herself that she's not sure why she went straight to the shower to cry. But deep down she knows that she didn't want to let herself see how deeply Harold had hurt her. And if anyone was listening –it is a possibility – they wouldn't be able to hear her crying. She has no idea how long she has been crying, and she doesn't really care. As she gets out of the shower and wraps a towel around herself she glances at the mirror. Her red rimmed eyes reflect her inner emotions. Looking away, she walks to her bedroom and gets dressed slowly. Once she is finished, she feels like crying again.

"_You don't know anything about me." _That one sentence hurt her worse than Zoe could have ever imagined. And she knew that Harold had been right. She knew next to nothing about him. She loved it when she was curled around him in the darkness and it's was late, or too early to look at the clock. He tells her stories then. Clever things, dangerous things. She is pretty sure that most of the time he would make up his past just to make her laugh, but that was ok too. But now looking back, she realizes now that she doesn't know anything about the man she loved.

And he had hurt her deeply by telling her the truth. She can't even imagine how long Harold has been keeping his feeling from her. Who knew how long he has wanted to break up with her? And if she hadn't confronted him, who knew how long he would have kept his feelings from her. He most likely would have continued to let her believe that everything was fine. Tears streaming silently down her face, Zoe picks up her phone. She dials a number she knows now by heart and waits for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?" Zoe takes a deep breath to keep her voice from shaking too much.

"Joss, I need a friend right now."

* * *

Finch sits at his computer, staring at his computer screens. Though he is looking at the screens, he isn't actually seeing them. He is lost in his own thoughts. In the time since he has broken up with Zoe not too long before, the world seems to have changed around him. The world seems darker, like everything has lost the majority of its color. He feels empty. Once again, he has lost someone who he cares about. _But it is the right thing. I made the right choice. I did it because – _

Finch's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of someone, maybe two people, running up the stairs of the library. He can hear voices getting closer and he stands up subconsciously. Finch hears the gate being wrenched open by a strong force and a moment later sees Carter storming towards him, Reese following quickly behind. Carter rapidly walks up to Finch and slaps him as hard as she can once she is in arms reach of him. The force of the slap makes Harold gasp slightly and sends his glasses askew. Reese, standing in the back of the library, winces at the sound of Carter's hand meeting Finch face and Bear raises his head, growling slightly but making no other movement.

"How dare you say those things to Zoe!" She shouts at him, a fire reflecting in her eyes. Finch sets his glasses back to their rightful place and gently touches his burning cheek.

"I –" Finch begins but is interrupted by Carter.

"No, I'm talking!" Carter yells at him, "She trusted you! She loved you more than she has loved anyone else! And you broke her heart. And you didn't break up with her when you realized that you didn't want her in your life. No, you waited. You let her think that you stilled loved her." Too taken aback to say anything, Finch stares at Carter speechless.

"You're nothing more than a lying son of a bitch." Finch looks away and Carter opens her mouth to continue but stops. She'll let the bird retreat to his nest of lies. Carter turns on her heal, and storms out. Finch and Reese share a glance and neither one know what to say.

"I'll be back soon." Reese says finally. Finch nods, and Reese walks out following Carter. Finch slowly sinks down into his chair, rubbing his cheek absently.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I just have a few things to say.**

**First off, I would like to thank everyone who has been reviewing, and adding this story to your favorites and alerts. Its really nice knowing that you are enjoying this story.**

**Second, I'm sorry for the long wait! School got hectic and I had to study for finals, i was sick one weekend, some personal matters came up, I was out of town - it was just crazy and i had next to no time to write. So I apologize once again. As always, I will update as soon as I can.**

** Third, a very kind reader pointed out that I seemed to have made a mistake in the last chapter. I said that Finch and Zoe share an apartment, and then proceeded to say that they don't. Just to clear things up, they don't share an apartment. My bad, I'll try not to make any more major mistakes. I always seem to write late at night, and I don't always notice my mistakes. I do appreciate you pointing out my mistake, so if you catch any, please let me know. **

**Fourth, I used the same exact wording for a sentence or two as Homeric in her story "Fix". Her brilliant words, not mine. ;)**

**Well, that's about it. As always, reviews are always welcome. For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. And those who don't, I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. If I don't update before the new year, i wish you all everybody a happy new year! :)**

**So, what shall happen between Zoe and Finch? Can they fix their relationship, or are they broken for good? What could possibly make Finch want to end it with Zoe? With Carter mad at Finch, will it create problems for team machine? What are Reese's thoughts about the whole situation? Dont worry, this story is far from over! (Wow, i sound like a crappy advertisement...so I'm going to just stop typing and update this story. Thanks for reading and have a great day.)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Inspired by Homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed"**_

Zoe sits at her kitchen counter, staring off into space. A few days into the New Year and she is almost over Finch breaking up with her. She hates to admit it, but it was really hard for her the first couple of days after he ended it. She had found herself crying all the time and unable to think about anything else other than him. She spent New Year's Eve alone in her house crying over him. It wasn't even the fact that he broke up with her that made her so upset but the fact that he had been lying to her. Lying about how he felt. But now she is nearly done crying herself to sleep every night. She isn't in high school anymore. She is a strong independent woman. A man broke her heart. Time to get over it.

Glancing at her phone, she contemplates calling him. Though she still somewhat hates him, she respects what he does. He helps save lives. No one ever asked him to as far as she knows. And like it or not, it was statistically inevitable that their paths will cross again. He and John would need her help again. She doesn't have like him, or even trust him, but she would have to talk to him at some point. She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. If she called, what would she say? She had no idea why Finch ended it with her. Something made him second-guess his decision to be with her. That damn calculating look on his face had been with him for a long time. She knew that he had truly felt a connection to her. But then why end it? She shakes her head again. The past is the past and now it is a new year.

Glancing at her watch, Zoe leaves her home to meet Carter for brunch. It has been a few days since she has talked to Carter and she wonders how her friend is doing. Zoe inwardly smiles to herself. It was nice knowing that she had a friend to watch her back. Her smile broadens slightly as she realizes that it's not the first time she is happy to have Carter as a friend, and it makes her more grateful for having a friend to count on.

As she walks into the diner she finds Carter already at a table waiting for her.

"Good to see you again Zoe," Carter greets and Zoe grins back at her.

"Same to you Joss." Zoe takes a seat across from her friend and picks up her menu but doesn't bother to open it. She already knows what she wants to order and picking up the menu was pointless.

"How have you been?" Zoe asks and Carter shakes her head as if recalling bad memories.

"Interesting to say the least," Carter sighs.

"Things been awkward since you slapped the shit out of Harold?" Zoe's statement earns her a small chuckle from Carter.

"That would be a bit of an understatement," Carter puts down her menu before she continues. "It was really bad right after I hit him. But it's been what, a week and we're adults. We solve our problems like adults." The waiter comes to their table then, a tall young man with dirty blond hair and light eyes.

"What can I get for you beautiful ladies today?" He asks, shaking his head to get his hair out of his face. Inconspicuously, Zoe sizes him up. He must be at least six feet if not a little taller. His hair hangs in his eyes, a style that will never make sense to Zoe. The man, though he's more of a boy than a man, is lean and not particularly muscular. Even with a lack of muscles Zoe knows that the boy is rather strong and could protect himself.

"Just a coffee for now please," Carter responds and Zoe nods. She takes a small breath, making a mental note to stop analyzing everyone who talks to her. She's becoming too paranoid.

"Make that two coffees." The young man smiles at Zoe in return.

"You got it. I'll be back in a moment with your coffee and just let me know when you're ready to order." The man winks at Zoe as he turns to leave.

"Well, he seems to like you." Carter muses, a smile dancing on her lips but Zoe shakes her head.

"He's too young. I'll be surprised if he's twenty one." The young man comes back with their coffees and smiles at Zoe again. He sets their coffees down in front of them and then moves his hair out of his eyes once more.

"Thanks," Carter says taking a sip of her coffee.

"No problem. Two coffees for two angles." Carter nearly chokes on her coffee but Zoe remains calm and collected. On the outside at least. She feels like saying something but doesn't. Instead she just nods and the young man leaves.

"Well, this has turned into one of our more interesting brunches." Zoe comments and Carter nods in agreement. They talk for a while more until Carter gets a call for Fusco; a sign it is time for Carter to go.

Zoe returns home afterwards, not knowing where else to go. She sets her keys on the counter and takes off her coat. She looks around, wishing her apartment wasn't so plain. Without meaning to, Zoe finds herself thinking about Harold. Despite hating him, she misses him. She misses him holding her protectively, promising never to let go of her._ Well that promise turned out to be a fucking lie._

Zoe isn't sure if she could ever trust him again. She barely trusts anyone to begin with. Her line of work is too dangerous to trust anyone at all really. But she trusted Harold and he betrayed her. She doesn't even know why.

"_I can't do this anymore." _ It pains Zoe to think about her last conversation with Harold but she does it anyway.

"_Look, I'm sorry Zoe but I can't…" _ A single tear runs down Zoe's cheek but she ignores it. The way he kept saying he couldn't handle their relationship was strange. He had been battling himself on whether or not he should stay with her. And the thought had been bother him for weeks. Zoe frowns in frustration. Why would he have been debating about whether or not he should end their relationship? Part of Zoe believes that he's just an ass who dumped her when it was convenient for him. But the other part of her desperately wants to believe that their whole relationship was real; she wants to believe that they really had a connection. Because maybe they did, or maybe it was all just smoke and mirrors.

"_Even angels have their wicked schemes…" _Zoe sits down, lost in thought. _"On the first page of our story,  
the future seemed so bright, then this thing turned out so evil," _Zoe lets another tear slide down her cheek, wanting someone to tell her everything was going to be okay.

"_Just gonna stand there and hear me cry, but that's all right because I love the way you lie, Oh, I love the way you lie."_

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed! I love reading your thoughts about this story. It really brightens my day. Seriously, thank you. ;D**

**The last few lines of this chapter are lyrics from Rihanna's song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2 (feat. Eminem)" I DO NOT OWN THE SONG. ALL RIGHTS GO TO RIHANNA/WHATEVER COMPANY OWNS THE RIGHTS TO THE SONG. I OWN NOTHING. So don't report me or anything - not that I think that any of you would but i just have to say it. _  
_**

**Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. The next chapter should be posted soon and shall be Finch's thoughts as well as Reese's opinion/thoughts about this whole situation.  
**

**Oh, and Happy New Year everyone. :)  
**

**Have a great day Irrelevants. Stay safe, and remember: You are being watched.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed"**_

The sun shines down on New York City, despite the freezing temperatures. The clouds have moved away, making way for the sun. As the wind yields, more people venture outside, enjoying the nice winter day. To the general population, it is a beautiful day with the sun illuminating the world, making it different shades of orange and gold. But to Finch, the world seems to have lost all color. Inside his library, Finch sits in his desk chair holding the picture of him and Grace on her birthday. He remembers leading her on a scavenger hunt throughout New York ending at the museum. She had been so happy; happier than he had ever seen her –With the exception of when he proposed to her. And he had been happy too. Genuinely happy. With her, he felt like he didn't have to pretend to be anyone; he could be himself. But that was in the past. It has been seven years now since that photo had been taken. Things change. She never really knew who he is; she didn't know what he really did. He could have told her but he didn't. And now she thinks he is dead and he lets her believe he is gone. It would have been so easy to tell her the truth. He could always stop saving the people. It was Nathan's fault anyway for having a contingency and building a backdoor into the machine. He certainly had the money for him and Grace to get away and start a life. Every day since he let her believe he was dead he had fought with himself whether or not to tell her the truth. Well, every day until he had met Zoe Morgan. Since he met Zoe, Finch has felt happy again. And she knows about what he does; not the details but she knows more than Grace ever did. Grace has moved on, and is enjoying her life. And who is he kidding; he will keep protecting other people until he winds up dead – for real this time. Grace is living happily without him; that was what he wanted for her. He had been in denial when Grace finally did move on, and he had felt so alone. But Zoe, she had brought happiness back into his life. He truly loves her, and would do anything for her. He is himself around her. And now he has pushed her out of his life. But he has pushed her out of his life because –

Finch suddenly becomes aware that someone is watching him. Without moving, he looks past the picture in his hand towards the bookshelves. He eyes move to Bear, whose ears are twitching slightly. Finch sighs as he looks back at the bookshelves.

"You do realize that I can see you, Mr. Reese." Reese steps out of the shadows, a sly grin plastered on his face.

"Morning Harold," Reese replies, walking towards Finch. His grin disappears though as he sees what Finch is holding. Finch quickly puts his hand down, even though he knows Reese already saw what he was looking at.

"Harold," Reese begins but Finch cuts him off before he can continue.

"Is remembering the past a bad thing, Mr. Reese?" Finch snaps. Reese mentally sighs; Finch has been in a bad mood ever since he broke up with Zoe.

"Remembering, no. But not letting go of the past is a different matter." Finch sighs, at a loss for words. Reese walks up to his friend, sitting down in the chair opposite Finch. Silence follows and Reese decides that now is probably the best time to speak his mind.

"What you did to Zoe was wrong," Reese states getting right to the point. He doesn't think that beating around the bush will get them anywhere. Finch tips his head slightly in agreement.

"Yes, my timing was a bit…rough for a lack of a better word," Finch agrees, looking away to avoid Reese's eyes. Reese is a bit surprised that his reclusive friend is actually opening up to him a little – a fact that makes him worry for his friend.

"And what you said was pretty-"

"Fucked up, yes I know, Mr. Reese," Finch interrupts quietly, still avoiding eye contact. Reese remains quite, tying to read Finch's emotions. It is obvious that Finch is in depressed state, but Reese finds himself struggling to comprehend his friend's motives.

"So are you?" Reese asks, more to himself than to Finch.

"Am I what?" Finch questions, finally looking up at Reese. Reese makes eye contact with Finch, and he questions the thoughts in the billionaire's mind.

"Are you holding onto the past?" Finch remains silent for a moment. As the seconds dwindle past, he finally shrugs, shaking his head the best he can.

"I don't know."

"It's a yes or no question Finch,"

"No. Maybe yes. I don't know," Finch looks away again, and Reese stands up not wanting to sit anymore. Reese paces slowly, glancing around once and a while. After a minute, he stops and surveys the room. A few things catch his eyes immediately. He notices that Finch is wearing the same tie he had worn the day before and that his clothes are slightly wrinkled. His hair seems slightly damp, probably from showing in the bathroom on the first floor of the library. Finch also has a weary look in his eyes, from mental and physical exhaustion – could be from no sleep or very little sleep. A quick glance at the stash of Hot Pockets shows that the pile of the frozen pizzas has decreased in number slightly. As Reese reflects on his findings, Finch watches him closely.

"When was the last time you left the library?" Reese tries to act casual, but he can tell that Finch isn't buying it.

"Did you just Sherlock me?" Finch asks, seemingly ignoring Reese's question. Reese turns and looks at Finch, raising his eyebrow expecting an explanation.

"Come on, Sherlock Homes. He's a consulting detective over in Britain. Don't you read John Watson's blog?"

"The name sounds familiar, but no I haven't read the blog. And you're avoiding the question," Reese trails off slightly as Finch stiffly gets to his feet, moving towards the coat rack.

"You should read it. It's quite fascinating actually." Finch informs Reese, grabbing his coat jacket and making his way towards the exit. Reese turns his head and looks down at Bear, the dog giving him a questioning look.

"He never ceases to surprise me," Reese comments to Bear, who in turn seems to nod in agreement. Reese grins at the dog, and grabs his coat before heading out the door to follow Finch.

* * *

Reese follows Finch around, not sure where they are going. They end up in Central Park, walking side by side. Reese doesn't say anything, waiting for Finch to be the first one to talk. He'll talk when he's ready. As they walk, Reese notices the life around him. Little kids running around, parents following them, runners jogging, the birds who haven't flown south flying overhead – it all adds up to make a peaceful environment. Reese is always highly observant of his surroundings, but it's when he can actually see the world does he like to take a moment to appreciate it. Finch on the other hand seems oblivious to his surroundings – something that is odd for the reclusive billionaire.

They walk in silence for several more minutes before Finch finally speaks.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years? Or even five years?" Reese stops for a moment, not expecting the question.

"I don't know," Reese answers truthfully. Finch keeps walking, his eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"Life is a funny thing," Finch comments. Reese remains quiet, not really liking the area the conversation is heading.

"If I'm being honest, I pictured myself dead in ten years' time," Finch continues. "Perhaps even five," Finch seems to be talking more to himself than to Reese now, and Reese glances over at him as they walk.

"What changed?" Reese asks, noticing that Finch is talking in the past tense. Finch stiffly turns his body to look at Reese.

"You already know the answer to that." Reese tilts his head slightly – he does know the answer. Finch stops walking suddenly, and Reese nearly walks into him but Finch doesn't seem to notice though. He nods his head towards the right and Reese follows his gaze.

"See that young man over there?" Finch asks.

"The tall guy in the black jacket?" Reese asks, not knowing what he had to do with anything.

"He's our next number." Finch responds.

"We're working a case?" Reese questions, not knowing that that is the reason Finch brought him to the park.

"I told you once that the numbers never stop coming," Finch responds.

"I remember," The man starts moving away and Reese walks towards him. "I'll be in contact," Reese continues as he walks away. Finch watches him leave before turning away, looking off into the distance again.

"Dum spiramus tuebimur," Finch mumbles to himself.

* * *

"His name is Axel Temple," Finch states to Reese. They are both back in the library (Reese unable to learn anything about the number before losing him), and trying to figure out why their new number is in danger. Reese looks over Finch's shoulder at the computer screen, reading over the information Finch has brought up.

"Twenty years old, lives alone, no known immediate family," Finch trails off a little, turning slightly to face Reese. "You can take a step back, Mr. Reese."

"Am I bothering you, Harold?" Reese asks smugly; glad to see Finch out of his depressed state.

"No, but it's a bit hard to concentrate with you breathing on my neck." Reese grins as he takes a step back. He grows serious though as Finch continues.

"Nothing really seems to be suspicious, except for the fact that he has a very good firewall. I haven't been able to gain access to his Wi-Fi or computer. And his financial records."

"He could be hiding something." Reese musses, considering the facts.

"Possibly." Finch agrees. He quickly searches through his research and then writes something down on a sticky note.

"Can you ask Carter to run this license plate?" He asks Reese, handing him the note. Reese barley glances at it before he looks back at Finch.

"Why can't you do it?" Reese inquires. Finch gives Reese an unamused look while answering.

"I assumed that you would like to call your girlfriend." Finch answers shortly.

"Is she still mad at you? Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No John, we are fine. If she is still mad at me she certainly isn't showing it. But unquestionably, it would be indescribably wonderful if you could ask her to run the plate." Reese sighs seeing that Finch's bad mood is back.

"I'll give her a call." Reese confirms.

"After you call her you should follow Mr. Temple. He works at a diner in lower Manhattan. I'll send you the address." Reese nods and walks out of the library.

After Reese leaves, Finch goes back to digging up anything that would show if Axel Temple is the victim or the perpetrator. It takes Finch nearly an hour before he is able to access his financial records.

"Now what are you hiding?" Finch asks the air quietly. He skims the file before dialing Reese's number.

"Any news? "Reese inquires, picking up on the second ring.

"Yes. Mr. Temple has made several large transactions into his bank account over the past couple of months. Ten times more than what he makes in a year. I think that it's safe to assume that he's the perpetrator." Finch pauses, waiting for John to say something.

"Mr. Reese?" Finch can hear labored breathing and wonders what is going on. "John?"

"I'm here Finch," John pants, trying to catch his breath. "Axel just gave me the slip."

"What? Did he see you?"

"I don't think so. He looked at his phone and then just disappeared."

"Did you clone his phone?"

"No, I couldn't. I tried but the connection failed." Finch considers the problem before speaking again.

"We have to find him again."

"I know Finch. I'll try to pick up any leads." Reese hangs up, leaving Finch to his thoughts. Finch only sits in silence for a moment before his phone starts going off. He quickly picks up, not knowing why Reese would call him back so suddenly.

"I found his phone." Reese informs Finch.

"What?"

"Temple's phone. I saw him throw it away before he disappeared again. I have the phone but he's gone."

"Is the phone damaged?"

"No, it's fine." Finch closes his eyes, thankful for Mr. Temple's stupidity of throwing away his phone without destroying it.

"Tomas Elliot" Reese says suddenly.

"What?"

"Tomas Elliot," Reese explains, "He's the only contact in Axel's phone." Finch frantically starts typing looking for any information on Tomas Elliot.

"Did you ever get in touch with Detective Carter?" Finch questions, still typing.

"I gave her the plate number but she hasn't gotten back to me. I'll ask her about it."

"I'll continue my search in any information on Mr. Elliot. I believe it's safe to say he may be in on whatever Mr. Temple in planning."

"I'll ask Fusco to try to find any police records."

"That would be much appreciated. And John," Finch pauses for a moment.

"Yes, Harold?"

"Be careful. We don't know how dangerous these men are."

* * *

Reese surveys the crime scene from the shadows as police agents and a medical team swarms the area. He can see Carter leaning down, investigating what he assumes to be a body – there are too many people to see clearly. Carter stands up, feeling like she is being watched. As she looks around, she sees a man hiding in the shadows. Inconspicuously, she makes her way over to him.

"What are you doing here?" Carter asks.

"I was in the area trying to find a man who we think is planning something," Reese answers quietly.

"If it was murder you're too late." Carter sighs, looking down and Reese looks away. It's a few seconds before Reese speaks.

"Any suspects?" Carter shakes her head looking back at Reese.

"There are reports that there was a tall guy running away from here only a few minutes after shots were fired, killing the victim, "

"A man in a black jacket?" Reese interrupts.

"How'd you know?" Carter asks though she already knows the answer.

"He's the man I'm trying to follow."

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone! thanks for being so patient - i know its taking me a while to update.**  
**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sad to say that this story is coming to a close soon - only a few more chapters. (But i think that i will write a sequel) :)**  
**I made three references to some of the things i enjoy. If you think you know what they are, mention it in the comments. One is really easy, but the other two are rather hard. See if you can find them. (of course you dont have too)**

**Please let me know if you spot any mistakes. Have a great day.**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed" **_

Zoe sits at the bar, sipping her margarita. She sits in silence, trying not to draw any unwanted attention to herself. See can feel the eyes of a couple of men glancing at her occasionally, but for the most part she manages to remain anonymous. It's a nice evening, and normally Zoe would let herself have a relaxing evening but she's working. She hears someone walking up to her but she doesn't turn. She smiles as a man takes a seat next to her.

"Hello John," Zoe says turning to face Reese, holding her drink to her lips.

"Zoe," Reese greets back with a grin. Zoe sips at her margarita again. For his part John remains quiet, glancing around the bar.

"Well it's always a pleasure to see you John, but something tells me that this isn't two friends just hanging out on a lovely night." Reese nods, his face growing serious.

"We need your help." Zoe puts down her glass as she answers.

"What can I do?"

"We need help finding a man. Tomas Elliot," Reese pauses as Zoe contemplates the name.

"I don't think I've heard the name before," Zoe replies, still thinking. Reese shakes his head.

"We can't find anything. No address, no photos, no digital record, nothing. It's as if he doesn't exist."

Zoe thinks for a moment again, and Reese waits patiently.

"I'll see what I can do." Reese nods thanks and stands up.

"Gotta run?" The corners of John's mouth twitch up in a smile.

"Be safe Zoe."

"And the same for you John."

Zoe watches as John gets up and walks out of the bar. She can't help grinning as his coat seems to flow around him, giving an image of a cape. She makes a mental note to have Carter make John wear a cape one day. Maybe Joss could get him to put on a whole costume. Taking the last sip of her margarita, Zoe fishes around in her purse for her wallet, pushing the lovely image of John in a superhero costume out of her head.

After she pays, Zoe heads out of the bar. Out of earshot from anyone who could be listening, she pulls out her phone. After quickly dialing the number of one of her client's, she doesn't have to wait long before the person on the other end picks up.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Miss Morgan, do you have the information?" The man sounds nervous, but with good reason. At the age of only twenty-seven, the young police officer has already fallen in with the dirty cops in his precinct. Desperately trying to get out, the only thing stopping the officer from leaving is the information the corrupt cops are using to blackmail him – blackmail currently in Zoe's possession. It had been fairly easy for Zoe to pickpocket it from one of the men in the bar; It wasn't extremely hard to steal from a drunk police officer on his break.

"Yes. I have the recording and the flash drive." Zoe can hear a sigh of relief from the man on the other end.

"Thank you. I'll go the meeting place tomorrow at ten A.M. to pick up the stuff and give you your payment. And I can't thank you enough." Zoe smiles slightly in pride – compliments never going to waste.

"It's my job."

"Is there anything else I can do to repay you?" Zoe opens her mouth to politely refuse, but stops before she can begin.

"Well actually, something does come to mind,"

"Anything. You really helped me out here and I owe you."

"If you could give me any information on a man named Tomas Elliot, it would be much appreciated,"

"Yes, of course, anything. I'll use my resources and give you everything I can find."

"Thanks." Zoe hangs up, tucking her phone back into her purse. She continues her walk down the street, wondering if her client will have any luck finding out anything about Tomas Elliot.

* * *

Reese quickly climbs out of his car parked a few blocks from the library. He likes to change his parking spots frequently to keep anyone from finding the library. As he walks to the library, he checks his watch. He frowns slightly seeing the time, it's much later than he thought.

When he reaches the library, he glances around, making sure no unwanted eyes were watching. But because of the time, no one else was out, leaving Reese with nothing to fear. He quickly enters the library and makes his way up the stairs. He can hear Bear sitting up and he smiles. As he enters the main room, Bear runs over to him and Finch looks up at him.

"Evening Mr. Reese,"

"Harold," Reese returns, petting Bear softly on the head. He looks up at Finch after a moment. He smile falls from his face as he sees the exhaustion in Finch. He knows that Finch has been beating himself up over being unable to locate Axel Temple and his mysterious friend Tomas Elliot. And as far as Reese knows, Finch is still unable to hack into any of Axel's accounts. Reese felt his anger, being unable to track down either of the two men himself. Since the incident that ended with a dead body, Axel has joined Tomas off the grid. But he knew that Finch was being too hard on himself and in desperate need of a break.

"You should go home Harold."

"Trying to imply something, John?" Finch asks, raising his eyebrow. Reese shrugs.

"It's late. Go home and get some rest. We both need it."

"Although I appreciate your concern for me, I'm fine. I can keep looking for any leads."

"When was the last time you got any sort of proper sleep? A night off would be good for us both. There's not a lot more either of us can do tonight." Seeing that Finch is on the edge of agreeing, Reese continues.

"Plus, the last time I checked, your name isn't 'owl'," Reese jokes. His comment earns him the look – we all know _the look_ Finch gives people.

"That can easily be arranged," Finch scoffs, but slowly stands up, listening to Reese's advice. He grabs his coat as Reese turns off the lights. They walk out together, Finch locking up the library as they leave.

Together, the make their way down the street walking side by side. They share the silence of the night as they walk. Finch speaks after a few moments.

"Has Carter or Zoe found out anything? Any possible leads?" Reese shakes his head.

"No." Silence follows.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Reese turns his head to look at Finch, patiently waiting for an explanation.

"Mr. Elliot. No records. It's obviously an alias of some sort. But why would he need to hide like this? He's smart – probably erased his real identity and doesn't want to be found. Why? And how is Mr. Temple involved in all of this?"

"Think Axel is the victim?"

"I'm really not sure. Mr. Temple has a clean record and for the most part a seemingly boring life. Doesn't seem like the violent type."

"This man looks at a message on his phone, abandons his phone, a body ends up in a place he might have been near, and he drops off the grid. We don't have all of the facts. But I would assume based on what we know that Axel is the perpetrator." Reese muses.

"We are missing something important…" Finch shakes his head the best he can, clearing his head. "I guess we can worry about it tomorrow."

They walk for another moment before Finch turns to Reese, raising his eyebrow slightly. "I believe you just passed your car, Mr. Reese." Reese looks back and sees that indeed; he walked right passed his car.

"Ah…" Reese looks down at Finch. "Night Harold."

"Night John." Finch watches as Reese walks back to his car. He then turns his gaze upwards towards the security camera on the building above them.

* * *

Zoe knows she is being followed. Zoe is pretty good at realizing someone when someone was trailing her, and she knows for sure that someone was following. But being followed doesn't really bother Zoe. She knows her line of work is dangerous but she's confident in her skills to protect her for the most part. She leads her follower around for a while, trying to confuse them. Zoe then tries her best to disappear. It works, and Zoe knows that her stalker has lost her. She continues on her way, traveling with caution, knowing that her follower could find her again.

She makes it place where she is going to meet her current client and she can't say she's surprised to see him already there. She walks up towards him and he looks up, hearing her approach.

"Miss Morgan." He says, tipping his head towards her.

"James," She replies. She looks at him, expecting him to pull out her payment. He nods seeing her expression and he hurriedly pulls out a thick envelope from his pocket. In turn, Zoe pulls out the information she stole the night before at the bar. She hands it over and the young cop hands her the envelope at the same time. Zoe steals a quick glance inside the envelope and puts it in her purse, smiling at James.

"Did you find anything out about that other matter?" James gives her a quick nod.

"Yeah. Not a lot of information though," James looks around before continuing. "This Elliot guy isn't showing up on any records in our systems. But I asked around. This man is a ghost, but I did find out that he is a close friend of another man named 'Edward'."

"Did you happen to get a last name?" James shakes his head.

"It began with an 'N' but I don't know what it is." He pauses before speaking again. "I would be careful if I were you. Word is that they aren't good guys." Zoe nods in thanks.

"Thank you James." James grins a little nervously.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"It's my job." Zoe gives him a small smile before turning and walking away.

Walking through the city, Zoe pulls out her phone dialing Reese's number. She puts the phone to her ear but is confronted with a strange sound. She pulls the phone away from her ear and looks at the screen. The words CALL FAILED comes up onto the screen and Zoe frowns. She quickly tries to redial the number but is faced with the same problem. Still frowning, Zoe puts her phone back into her pocket. She continues to walk, wondering why her phone isn't sending calls. She pushes aside the thoughts though as she sees a familiar face at the coffee stand not too far from her.

"Joss!" Carter turns, hearing Zoe call her name.

"Fancy seeing you here," Carter responds with a smile. She pays for her coffee and the two walk down the street together.

"What are you doing here?" Carter asks.

"Work brought me to the area." Carter takes a sip of her coffee as Zoe continues. "Think you could tell John something for me?" Carter swallows her coffee.

"Of course."

"Could you tell him Elliot is working with a man named Edward N.? And they are most likely working illegally." Carter nods.

"How do you find this stuff out anyway? John's been asking me to try to find records of Elliot but there aren't any."

"It's what I do." Carter nods again, not wanting to get into the details.

"I'll be sure to pass along the information."

"Thanks Carter. I'll see you later."

"Be careful Zoe," Carter calls after Zoe as she leaves.

* * *

Finch sits on the bench with his laptop, quickly typing. He ignores the pigeon that seems to have found a comfortable seat next to him, attracting other birds to the bench. Subconsciously, he's glad Reese isn't there to make some bird joke. He focuses on trying to hack the phone company to see if he could trace any calls Axel had made. His vibrating phone halts his typing and he taps his earpiece, answering the call.

"Mr. Reese?"

"Finch, I have some information," Reese continues before Finch has a chance to ask Reese what new information he has come across. "Elliot is working with another man named Edward."

"Edward?" Finch asks, quickly minimizing the phone company's records and opening a search engine to try to find the new player in the game.

"His last name begins with an 'N' and that's all I know about him." Finch stares at his keyboard. While the new information is useful, finding more pieces to the puzzle is not going to be as simple as he thought.

"And Finch," Reese pauses, waiting to get Finch's full attention. "These guys seem to be the perpetrators. They could be after Axel; he has to be the victim."

"Thank you John. I'll try to find anything about Edward. You have to go find Mr. Temple. There's a good chance they will find him before we do." Finch responds. He can almost feel Reese nodding on the other end and he ends the call.

Finch sits in silence for a moment, trying to think. He blocks out the rest of the moving world around him, focusing on the facts that he knows. Axel Temple. Twenty years old. Lives alone, no known close family or friends. Works five days a week and seems to have a small to nonexistent social life. Received a text and disappeared. Phone records… Finch looks at his computer, and begins to search through the phone records (It had taken longer than he had expected to hack the phone company). No, no unusual phone activity as far as he could tell. And the phone Reese had picked up from Axel after he threw it away had led to nothing; something was blocking Finch from hacking the phone itself, hence the reason to hack the whole phone company. Axel is smart and possibly paranoid – why else would he have such complex firewall Finch wouldn't be able to hack it. Finch looks up at the sky, still thinking. There is still the mysterious Tomas Elliot and Edward N. to worry about. They worked together, possibly for an illegal business – perhaps their own business. And there was still the dead body…Carter and Fusco had been the Detectives who took care of it…they said it seemed like a 'random' killing…it could be a coincidence that Axel was in that area when the murder occurred…

The sound of a public bus passing by brings Finch back to reality. He looks at the bus, not sure why the bus caught his attention. Maybe it has something to do with the giant Man of Steel promotion photo printed on it…

Something clicks in Finch's head. He stares at the Superman logo for five seconds before frantically typing on his computer, searching through the phone company's records.

* * *

Zoe knows she is being followed again. She's not sure who it is exactly, but she has a feeling it's the same person who followed her that morning. She can sense the person following her, and she picks up her pace a little.

* * *

Finch scans his computer screen before dialing Reese's number.

"Finch-"

"Edward and Axel are the same people!" Finch nearly yells, scaring the birds around him. A few people walking past give him a strange look.

"What?" Reese questions, astonished.

"There is no 'Edward', its Axel. He is the one who is working with Tomas! Axel is using the alias of Edward!" Finch suddenly becomes aware that Reese isn't on the other end anymore.

"John?" He asks quietly. He hears no sound on the other end. Before he has any time to think, a nearby payphone begins to ring. Finch looks at it for a moment before hastily standing up and shoving his laptop into his messenger bag, limping towards the payphone. He picks up the phone, listening carefully. He jaw visibly drops as he recognizes the authors and titles being listed to him. He slowly hangs up, his mind racing.

"Oh, shit…" Finch mumbles quietly to himself.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit…" His voice progressively gets louder but then falls quiet again and he dials Carter's number. She picks up on the second ring but it feels like forever for Finch.

"Detective, we have a major problem."

* * *

Zoe turns down a narrow alley, well aware of the dangers of moving into a secluded place while being followed. But frankly, she thinks that it's her best option right now. She walks quickly down the small alley, looking behind her as she walks. But she fails to notice the man who is now blocking way in front of her. She stops, seeing the man approach her, and she turns around to see another man come up from behind her. Before she can say or do anything, the man coming from behind her grabs her roughly covering her mouth before she can scream. Together, the two men roughly push her down the alley. Zoe tries to fight back but instantly stops as she feels a gun being pressed into her back.

"Get into the van," A low voice growls. "Try anything and I start killing innocent people." Zoe is about to ask him what van he possibly wants her to get into when she realizes that they are at the edge of the alley, next to the sidewalk. She can see a couple of other people walking around and a dark van parked in the street right next to the sidewalk. Taking a deep breath, Zoe makes her way to the van, the man with the gun following so closely behind her she can feel him breathing on her neck. Once they reach the van, the man holding the gun to her opens the door and shoves her in, jumping in and closing the door behind him. The other man makes his way around the car and climbs into the driver's seat.

They drive for maybe ten minutes, maybe fifteen at most. The man never takes his gun off Zoe and in turn, she keeps her head down the whole ride. The van finally stops, and the man with the gun hassles Zoe out of the car, her purse left in the van. Zoe looks around and sees they are at an abandoned building, and the very edge of the city.

"Axel, get her inside and find out what she knows," The driver orders, gesturing to the old building. Nodding the man with the gun, Axel, grabs Zoe roughly and drags her into the building and through winding corridors. They finally arrive in a large empty room with concrete floor; old light bulbs hanging from the ceiling being the only light source. Without warning, Axel shoves Zoe to the floor, his gun pointed at her. Zoe raises herself onto her knees, ignoring the pain and not daring to stand up anymore. Even with the bad lighting, Zoe recognizes the man standing before her – it's the same man who served her and Carter at the diner earlier in the week. The one who had called her and Carter 'angles'…

"Who are you?" He growls at her.

"Does it really matter?" Anger flashes in Axel's eyes and Zoe realizes that there's no reason for him not to kill her.

"How did you find out about us?"

"What?" Axel is clearly losing what little patience he has.

"You were asking around for me and Tomas. How do you know who we are? Who else did you tell? Did you tell the police how to find us?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Without warning, Axel slaps Zoe across the face hard. Zoe gasps slightly in pain but makes no other movement.

"Answer me now bitch!" Axel screams, and proceeds to hit Zoe again. A tear streams down Zoe's burning face but she remains quiet and she shakes her head.

Blind anger clouds Axel's eyes, and for a moment Zoe thinks he's going to hit her again. But instead, he starts laughing; an insane, empty laugh that makes Zoe shiver. Axel takes a step back, aiming his gun at Zoe's head.

"Then I guess I have no more use for you," he says, smirking. Zoe looks at the gun and realizes that she is going to die alone and no one is going to know where to find her body. Tears streaming down her face as she feels death around her, Zoe closes her eyes waiting to die. A second later, the sound of single gunshot echoes throughout the building.

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger! mwa hahaha! What is going to happen?  
Well, I hope you guys are enjoying this story!** **I hope that this chapter didn't feel too rushed or anything...speaking of which sorry for the long wait! Thanks for being so patient everyone!**

**well, this story is coming to a close - only 2 more chapters. I'm not sure how long they will be or when i will have a chance to update, but i will try my best to get the last chapters up soon.**

**Feedback and reviews are always appreciated but not necessary. Also please let me know if you catch any mistakes!  
**

**Have a great day everyone! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed"**

_Axel takes a step back, aiming his gun at Zoe's head. _

"_Then I guess I have no more use for you," he says, smirking. Zoe looks at the gun and realizes that she is going to die alone and no one is going to know where to find her body. Tears streaming down her face as she feels death around her, Zoe closes her eyes waiting to die. Despite herself she thinks about Finch. She thinks about the last conversation they had had. He had told her that in the end, they were all alone. And no one was going to save her. And he was right. It is her end, and she is completely alone. No one was coming. A second later, the sound of single gunshot echoes throughout the building. _

A millisecond after the gun fires, another gun fires. Zoe's eyes spring open, not feeling any pain from bullets and hearing Axel shout in pain. He takes a few steps back, and Zoe quickly looks around for the unknown shooter. Then she sees him and her jaw visibly drops. She watches, stunned, as Finch limps out of the shadows, holding a gun up ready to shoot again. She opens her mouth to say something – though she has no idea what to say – but Axel letting out a low growl in pain and anger makes her stop. She can see blood dripping from Axel's hand and kneecap, the result of being shot by Finch. _Damn, for a man who hates guns, he's a good shot_. Axel takes a few steps back as Finch takes a couple of steps forwards. Axel raises his gun towards Zoe, holding it with his one good hand. Slowly, they form a triangle, Finch pointing his gun at Axel, Axel with his gun pointing at Zoe.

"Put the gun down," Finch commands in a low voice. Axel makes no movement. "Now."

Axel still doesn't move. No one moves for a few seconds but it seems like hours. Zoe is almost positive she can hear Finch's watch, the seconds ticking away. Zoe starts to stand up, but the action causes Axel to freak out.

"Stay down!" He shouts at her, his finger resting on the trigger. Zoe freezes but doesn't move to get back down.

"Put the gun down!" Finch commands again but Axel's full attention is on Zoe.

"I said get down!" Axel shouts again and Zoe can see his finger tighten around the trigger. There's another gunshot and Zoe jumps a little in surprise as Axel collapses to the floor, dead. She looks at the limp man, watching as blood slowly begins to trickle from the dead body. She looks up to see Finch lowering the gun, as shocked as she is. He slowly limps forward and offers his free hand to her. She takes it and he helps pull her to her feet.

They stare at each other, not exactly sure what happens next.

"Are you okay?" Finch asks gently placing his free hand on her shoulder. Zoe nods slowly, taking a deep breath.

"Yes…I'm okay," It takes her a moment to realize Finch's hand is shaking. It takes her another moment to see that Harold's whole body is shaking pretty badly. She follows his eyes to the dead body next to them.

"I…killed him…" Finch mumbles quietly, still shaking. No words come out of Zoe's mouth. Instead, she reaches out and slowly puts her hand over his. Gently, she takes the gun from his hand. He doesn't say anything and Zoe isn't even sure he knows that she has taken the gun from him. His eyes are still fixed on the dead body next to them. He closes his eyes, no doubt trying to calm down. Finch keeps his hand on Zoe's shoulder and she finds it surprising comforting. A part of her wants to punch him for everything he's done to her but she pushes the thought away. There would be time to punch him later but now…

They both turn around as they hear a door being shoved open, slamming against the wall. What happens next happens so quickly Zoe can barely comprehend it. She sees a man with a gun running into the room. As he rushes into the room he doesn't hesitate to shoot at them and Finch takes a side-step forward, placing himself between Zoe and the unknown gunman. As soon as the other man fires at them Zoe's instincts take over. She's' not sure how many shots the unknown shooter managed to fire before she could react but it doesn't matter to her. Swiftly, she raises the gun in her hand and shoots. The man with the gun stumbles as the bullet hits him and he in turn falls to the ground dead, a bullet between his eyes. It takes Zoe a millisecond to realize Finch is no longer standing in front of her. She gasps as she sees Finch on the ground at her feet, blood seeping through his crisp white shirt.

"Oh shit!" Zoe cries out, kneeling down next to Finch. Quickly, she applies pressure to the bullet wound, trying to stop the blood flow. Finch cries out in pain and instinctively tries to push her hands away. His strength is failing him though, and he lets his hand settle on top of Zoe's hands. Zoe's mind is racing. _Gunshot to the abdomen…He's going to die from blood loss if I can't stop the bleeding…He needs help now._

"Zoe," Finch groans quietly, his voice sounding weak. Zoe takes the pressure of the wound slightly and feels lightheaded as deep red blood squirts out. She instantly reapplies the pressure, making Finch gasp in pain again. Subconsciously, Finch squirms in agony, trying to get away from the pain.

"Come on stay with me Harold," Zoe says, trying to ignore the blood finding ways to seep through her closed fingers.

"Zoe," Finch begins again, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Zoe could feel his grip on her hand growing weaker.

"Stay with me," Zoe pleads, but she watches helplessly as Finch begins to drift into unconsciousness. "Come on. Focus on my voice." Finch actually laughs a little, causing him to cough and groan in pain. _He thinks he's going to die… _

"Zoe," Finch winces, the pain nearly unbearable, "What I said…before…I'm sorry…I…" Finch trails off, his eyes beginning to close.

"Damn it you son of a bitch! Don't you dare leave me again!" Zoe's commands are useless though, and she watches as Finch falls unconscious. Deep red blood continues to paint the concrete floor around them. Zoe can't believe what is happening. Finch just saved her life and now he is going to die if he doesn't get help.

Zoe desperately tries to calm herself down. She knows that Finch _will_ die if she can't come up with a plan. The blood surrounding her is beginning to make her feel sick. She looks around, blood also pouring from the two dead bodies of the people who tried to kill them moments before. The blood from all three bodies has created three ever growing blood pools, the blood slowly – ever so slowly – making the pools melt together into an ocean of blood.

Zoe jumps as she hears footsteps and is about to grab Finch's gun when she recognizes the man walking in the door, holding up a gun to protect himself.

"Fusco!" She shouts and Fusco looks over in her direction. He quickly glances around the room, securing the room.

"Jesus Christ," He mumbles, seeing the bodies. Once his eyes rest on Finch he shoves his gun into its holster as he runs over to Zoe. He kneels next to her, looking down at Finch. He reaches out and checks Finch's pulse.

"He's still alive," Fusco sounds relieved but Zoe knows that Finch won't be alive for much longer.

"He needs help right now." Fusco nods in agreement.

"I can call in an ambulance –"

"No." Zoe interrupts before Fusco can finish. "Finch killed one of the men who attacked us and I killed the other. We have to get out of here." Fusco nods again, thinking the situation over.

"Alright. We can take him somewhere to get help in my car." Fusco and Zoe work together to raise Finch into a sitting position and Fusco puts Finch's arm around his shoulders.

"Can you get his other arm?" Fusco asks and Zoe nods. Zoe takes Finch's other arm and puts it around her shoulders. Fusco and Zoe stand up at the same time, lifting Finch into somewhat a standing position. Together, Fusco and Zoe make their way towards the exit, dragging an unconscious Finch with them.

Zoe's shoulders begin to hurt a few moments after half carrying half dragging Finch but she ignores the fatigue in her muscles. It takes only a few minutes to get to Fusco's car but to Zoe it feels like hours. Once they arrive at Fusco's car, Zoe opens the back door and together they lay Finch down across the backseats. Fusco climbs into the driver's seat but Zoe hesitates, not sure whether to get into the passenger seat or the back with Finch. She quickly makes up her mind and gets into the back, letting Finch's head rest on her lap due to the small space in the car.

"Where are we going to take him?" Fusco asks while starting the car and putting the car into drive.

"To a woman named Megan Tillman." Zoe gives Fusco her address and soon they are racing back into the heart of the city.

Zoe's not sure what she should be feeling. Half of her thinks that she's in shock. She looks down at the unconscious man as he stirs a little, muttering something in his sleep. She leans forward a little, struggling to hear what Finch is saying.

"Zoe," He mutters so softly Zoe can barely hear him. Zoe reaches over and takes his hand in hers.

"I'm here," She whispers back, squeezing his hand in a reassuring manner. Zoe desperately wants him to squeeze her hand back, to give her some sort of reassurance that he is okay. But he doesn't move and his hand is cold. Zoe realizes how pale he is from loss of blood.

"What happened back there?" Fusco asks a bit suddenly.

"I could ask you the same thing." Zoe replies honestly, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

"I don't know. I was out when Glasses called me. He told me to go to that building we were just at. He sounded pretty frantic. I don't know anything else," Fusco pauses looking at Zoe in the rear-view mirror. "How is he doing?"

"He seems to be doing okay," Zoe lies. _Why is there so much blood?_

"And are you okay?" Zoe pauses, not sure how to answer.

"I'll be fine." The drive in silence for another minute. But after a moment, Fusco digs around in his pocket, still mindful of the road.

"Here," He says, passing his cell phone back to Zoe. "You should call Tillman. Tell her we are coming." Zoe agrees, and calls Megan Tillman, letting her know they are on the way. Zoe has never met Dr. Megan Tillman before, but she knows that Reese and Finch saved her life a while ago. Though she's never met Megan before, Zoe knows that Megan will be willing to help Finch.

Once they arrive at Megan Tillman's house, they find that Megan is outside waiting for them. Zoe and Fusco quickly get out of the car and Megan helps them carry Finch into her house.

"This way," Megan leads them down the hallway and into a room Zoe can only assume would be the guest room. They place Finch on the bed and he groans in response.

"Gunshot to the abdomen, loosing blood, heart rate dropping," Megan seems to be talking to herself, and Fusco and Zoe find themselves standing a bit awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Megan senses their uneasiness, and stops what she's doing to look at them.

"You guys don't have to be here for this. You can wait in the living room if you want." Megan tries to offer a reassuring smile but Zoe can see the concern on her face. She nods though, and leaves the room. She can feel Fusco following close behind her. Once they reach the living room, Zoe stops and turns around to face Fusco.

"Do you think you could give me a ride home?" She asks softly. Fusco hesitates for a moment.

"Sure you don't want to stay?" Zoe shakes her head no.

"Yeah, I can give you a ride home."

Fusco and Zoe leave Megan Tillman's house together, and they both enter Fusco's car slowly. They ride to Zoe's apartment in silence. Once they get there, Fusco parks and Zoe starts to get out of the when Fusco's voice stops her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks gently.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for the ride." Fusco looks like he's going to say something else but Zoe gets out of the car and starts walking up the steps to her apartment. All she really wants is to be alone right now.

She enters her apartment in a bit of a haze. She looks around for her cell phone before realizing that it's in her purse, which is still in the van of her kidnappers. Zoe stands in the middle of her living room, not sure what happens next. She raises her hand to push her hair back but stops suddenly. She looks at her hands, realizing that they are caked in dried blood. Finch's blood. Zoe nearly runs to the kitchen sink, trying to scrub the blood off her hands. As the blood slowly slips off her hands, different emotions overtake Zoe. Part of her doesn't know what to think. Another part wonders what just happened. But mostly, she wonders how this affects the future. Specifically, how this changes the situation between her and Finch.

Zoe finishes washing her hands and makes her way over to the couch. She sits down slowly, lost in thought. Before today, she had convinced herself that she was over Finch. But now, she doesn't know what to think. He just saved her life, twice. _He took a bullet for her_.

Zoe thought that Finch didn't care about her. But then why would her risk his life for her? She knew that that was what he did – he protected people. But he _killed a person _in order to protect her.

Zoe didn't need to be a doctor in order to realize that Finch is teetering on the line between life and death. There is a good chance that he is going to die. Fear overtakes Zoe. She is terrified of losing him again. She's terrified she's going to lose him if there's a chance that he still loves her. Because despite everything he put her through, after today, she realizes that she still loves him. And she thinks that he still loves her too.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I know I say that almost every time update but i mean it. **  
**anyway i hope you enjoyed the chapter! So, it seems like Zoe is safe, but what about Finch? Is he going to make it? Or is he going to die? what are his motives anyway? **  
**I am sad to say that the next chapter is the last chapter. That being said, I'm not sure when i am going to be able to update again. AP testing for school is in 10 days for me, so im stressing about that. then right after AP testing is over, I have finals. So I'm not so sure when I will be able to write more/update the next chapter. I'll update as soon as I can, but i dont know when that will be. **  
**As always, let me know if you catch any mistakes! Feedback/comments are always nice/appreciated but you don't have to review. **

**Have a great day Irrelevants. **

**A/N II: Okay wow, so that last episode of Person Of Interest (Zero Day) that was a crazy episode! I'm not going to talk about it too much in case you haven't seen if but wow, brilliant episode. Personally, I think that it is the best episode so far. I'm just so excited for the season finale! Its going to be insane!**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Inspired by homeric's stories "Fix" and "Fixed" **_

Zoe is avoiding reality and she knows it too. She tried to convince herself that she was just in a bad mood but she knows that it is much more than that. But right now, anything is better than reality. In reality, she is confused and lost mentally and emotionally. Her life has completely changed in the last year. She never knew that one man – well two men but one man in particular – would impact her life like this. Part of her thinks that the whole thing is stupid – letting one boy take over her life is exactly the type of drama she dreaded and avoided all through high school. But this one man slid through cracks in the walls she surrounded herself with and made his way into her life.

Neither of them had ever imagined that one breakfast would change everything. It was supposed to be simple. Someone sent Reese to save her; ergo she owed the man who sent Reese. Breakfast. That was it.

He ordered the eggs benedict and she ordered a re-fill of coffee and a blueberry muffin. He had asked her about the weather. The weather. When he hadn't introduced himself, Zoe had asked him if she was supposed to hire a hit-man to save his life before he told her who he was. And he had given her this look, a look of respect and attraction.

They took a walk afterwards. He took her to an art gallery and they talked about art and writers. And when he took her hand in his, she felt like his fingers belonged between hers.

She loved him. And he loved her too. Neither of them had actually expected their strange relationship to last long. She was married to her job and he job was his life. But they made it work. He spent his free time going to dinner with her, or simply being with her. And she had done the same for him.

She knew that he didn't mean to keep her at arm's length. He was the most paranoid person she had ever met. It worried her and she wondered what possibly could have happened to make him so paranoid. But she knew that he would tell her in his own time – because he did trust her. Maybe not with all the fine details of his life but he did trust her.

She will never forget the fear she felt when she thought that he was gone forever. Nor will she forget the feeling she had when he returned to her. But he never did truly return to her. Part of him had changed, or she was seeing the side of him that he hid away from the rest of the world.

He broke her heart. He said all the things that he knew would cut her the deepest. He walked away and left her all alone. He acted like he didn't care – she believed he did care.

Then he showed up again in her life and once again, he saved her; He risked his life for her. He had proved that he was willing to die for her. And she didn't know why. Because why would someone who doesn't care for another person risk everything to safe them?

Once again, he'd left her alone and confused. She wanted to believe that he still loved her. Because as much as she hates to admit it, she still loves him. She misses the feeling of his fingers between hers. Because that's where he belongs.

Avoiding reality is actually presenting itself to be a challenge to Zoe. Though it has only been a day since she was kidnapped and Finch saved her, Zoe is having a hard time having a moment of peace to herself. Fusco had come by and given her back her purse. Zoe's phone has been ringing nonstop. She spent the majority of her time telling people who needed her to fix their problems that she was taking some personal time off. After a quick talk with Carter, Zoe turns off her phone in the hopes of having some time to sit in peace. She still can't wrap her head around the events of the day before. Her life has been in danger before. She has a dangerous job; she knows the risks. But nothing had prepared her for this.

She grabs a cup of tea (which she instantly regrets – out of all the drinks to get, she picks tea) and settles down on her couch. She grabs the remote for her TV and quickly switches the television on. She stares at the screen without really watching it. She zones out and loud cheering from the TV quickly brings her back. Zoe stares at her TV for a moment, not really sure what is going on. She glances at the clock. 7 AM. She must have fallen asleep at some point.

She curses as the man she has been trying to keep out of her head manages to work his way back into her mind. Still silently cursing the man, she reaches for the phone. She stops after she pushes in the first number. Zoe knows that she wants to call Megan Tillman – she wants to know how Finch is doing. But someone would have called her if he was okay; someone would call to tell the alternative. Calling now would do nothing. Sighing, Zoe puts the phone back into in its place. She decides instead to take a shower. She needs to clear her head.

The warm water running down her body sooths her nerves – a shower has never felt so good before. She takes a few moments to just stand under the water, letting her mind go blank. She breaths deeply, closing her eyes.

As Zoe leaves the shower, she carefully wraps her towel around herself. Making her way to the closet, Zoe catches her reflection in the mirror. She stands still for a moment, watching herself. She is surprised by how composed and calm the woman standing in the mirror is. She can see a bruise on her jaw where Axel had hit her. Zoe pushes the memory out of her mind. She tears hers eyes away from the mirror and walks to her closet. After she finishes dressing, she walks back to her kitchen deciding to make herself some coffee.

Zoe literally jumps and nearly spills coffee beans everywhere as her house phone begins to ring. She grabs the phone from the charger and answers it without looking to see who it is.

"Hello?" She asks quickly, not sure what to expect.

"Zoe?" Zoe holds her breath. It's John. He sounds exhausted – Zoe's not sure if that's a good or bad sign.

"John?"

"Are you okay?" His voice is filled with concern.

"I'll be alight," It's not a lie, but it's not the full truth either.

"I'm glad," John takes a breath before speaking again. "Zoe, I thought that you should know that Finch is going to be okay." Zoe releases the breath she had been holding.

"I just thought that you should know."

"Thank you John," Zoe breaths. She holds the phone in her hand while she relaxes. Finch is going to be okay. She has no idea what will happen, but he'll live. Not quite smiling to herself, Zoe puts the phone away and discards the coffee beans. Walking through her apartment several times, she looks for her laptop. Arriving to the conclusion that she wasn't going to find her laptop, she sits back down on her couch with a sign. Upon sitting down Zoe finds her laptop hiding in plain sight on her coffee table. Somewhere between amused and annoyed Zoe picks up her laptop, opening up the device and turning it on.

About thirty minutes after finding her laptop, Zoe looks up from her laptop at the sound of someone knocking. She quickly gets up and makes her way to the door. She glances through the hole, wrenching the door open as she sees who is outside.

"Harold?!" She cries in awe, caught totally by surprise. Out of all the people she could have guessed would be at her door right now Harold Finch was the last person on her list. He looks like a dead man who Death rejected. He's wearing a black jacket over a black t-shirt and is leaning heavily on a cane. His hair is everywhere and his eyes are red under his black frames. His free hand is holding the place where he was shot.

"Zoe," his voice is a little hoarse and heavy with exhaustion.

"Why are you here? You should be resting!" She helps him inside as she lectures him.

"I have a habit of moving around after almost dying," There's something like anger – perhaps regret or sadness – puncturing his voice. Zoe lets it go and she closes the front door. With the shock of Finch arriving at her door over, she has no idea what to say.

Finch and Zoe stand facing each other, with Finch putting most of his weight on his cane. Zoe feels like she should offer for them to sit but no words form in her mouth. Zoe doesn't know what to say so she stands tall, maintaining a neutral expression on her face. Finch studies her carefully and Zoe wonders if he feels as lost as she does. Finally he speaks.

"Zoe," He hesitates. Zoe waits patiently. He opens his mouth but no words come out.

"You owe me answers." Zoe says quietly, not breaking her focus. His tired eyes meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry-" Zoe shakes her head.

"Do you love me?" She asks. Part of her doesn't want to know for fear of the answer. But the other half wins.

"Yes," Finch replies honestly. "I love you more than anything."

"Then why did you leave me the way you did." Her words are hollow, pain slipping its way into her voice against her wish.

"Because," Finch stops again, but this time Zoe can see something reflecting in his eyes. "Because everyone I let get close to me ends up hurt or dead. It has always happened – it _will_ always happen. I don't know why I fooled myself into thinking that you are the exception. My best friend was murdered _because of me_. I have John on a suicide mission – he will die _because of me_. We are both going to be murdered for what we do at some point. And I'm not going to – _I can't_ – let you die because of me."

The fear in Finch's voice is heartbreaking. "I pushed you away to protect you."

Tears blur Zoe's vision, mixing Finch into the wall he is standing in front of. She blinks back the droplets of heartache and Finch becomes clear again.

"I am in the same situation as you," Zoe begins slowly. "My job has risks too – deadly risks. I might die in the middle of a job just like you. You could not have prevented what happened to me. It's not your fault." Finch is a blur again but Zoe keeps talking before he has a chance to say anything. "I love you. I _want to be with you_. But you need to accept that we have dangerous jobs-" Zoe chokes, a drop a water managing to escape her control.

"I love you Zoe," Finch barley finishes his sentence before him and Zoe both step forward, embracing each other tightly. Finch wraps his arms around Zoe's waist and she wraps her arms around him, careful not to touch where Finch was shot, resting her hands on his shoulder blades. She lays her head on his chest, crying into his suit jacket. She feels him pull her closer to him, and she can hear him crying too. She holds him tightly, being careful to mind his wound.

They stand holding each other for a few minutes. When they finally pull back a little and Finch frowns ever so slightly. He gently reaches up with his hand and traces the bruise that had formed along her jawline.

"Did he do this to you?" Finch's voice is dark but quiet and Zoe nods. Finch's eyes visibly soften.

"I'm sorry I let this happen to you," Zoe shakes her head.

"I wasn't your fault." Finch suddenly seems extremely tired. Zoe had forgotten that Finch had nearly died just two days ago. She can feel his hold on her weaken and she takes a few steps back, concern spreading across her face.

"You should sit down."

"Sounds like a good idea," Finch says as Zoe helps him to the couch. He instinctively covers his bullet wound with his hand in pain.

"You okay?" Finch looks at her with a ghost of a smile.

"I'll probably be okay." Zoe sits down next to him, their fingers sliding together.

"Can you do something for me Zoe?" Finch asks, his voice showing his exhaustion. "Can you call Dr. Tillman and tell her I'm with you?"

"She doesn't know?"

"No…I might have sneaked out without her knowing…" Zoe exhales loudly, shaking her head.

"What am I going to do with you?" Finch shrugs ever so slightly and Zoe can't help the corners of her mouth twitching up in a smile. "I'll let her know."

"Thank you." Finch says, his eyes heavy with sleep. "Maybe you will be the one to fix me."

* * *

The next two days are strange to say the least. Zoe hasn't invited Finch to stay at her apartment but he never left when he showed up at her door. He wasn't being rude – it wasn't that at all. He just never left her home. Zoe for the most part is glad Finch hasn't left. She feels safer with him around and she doesn't want him to leave. It's almost as if she is afraid he will disappear if he leaves. That being said, she doesn't really fully trust Finch either. He lost her trust when he left. Zoe is cautiously prepared to let him back into her life but the guilt of leaving is heavy on Finch's shoulder.

Finch slowly limps into the living room where Zoe is looking for her new issue of Entertainment Weekly.

"Can we talk Zoe?" He asks hesitantly.

"Sure,"

"I wanted to formally apologize to you for everything," Finch takes a breath. "Especially for saying what I said to you. I just wanted to keep you away from me to keep you safe." Now it's Zoe's turn to take a breath.

"You knew exactly what to say to hurt me the most," No anger in her voice; just fact.

"And I regret every word I said," Zoe can see tears falling from his eyes. "I know that you probably won't trust me for a while. And I deserve it. But Zoe," His voice breaks and he pauses.

"Zoe," Finch begins again and she takes a step closer to him.

"I'm sorry," Zoe takes her arms and wraps them gently around Finch's neck.

"It might take me a while to trust you completely again, and we have problems to work out but," She smiles slightly, wiping one of Finch's tears away.

"I forgive you," She pauses and smiles as she continues "For the most part at least." He chuckles, hearing the joking tone in her voice. He leans down a little, pressing his lips against hers. Zoe kisses him back, not wanting the moment to end. Finch breaks their kiss in order to breath. He rests his forehead on hers and Zoe closes her eyes. She can feel Finch pushing her backwards and before she knows it her back is against the wall. She kisses Finch again, more passionately this time. Her hands slip from around his neck and they find their way under Finch's jacket. She tries to push his jacket off his shoulders but Finch pulls away slightly.

"Zoe," Finch begins and Zoe frowns ever so slightly.

"What is it?"

"Is this what you want? I don't want you to be forced into anything you don't want to do…"

"Trust me; if I didn't want this, it wouldn't be happening." He smiles and leans in to kiss her again. Zoe leans forward too but stops and gasps slightly in surprise.

"What is it?" Finch questions, pulling away again.

"You're bleeding." Finch swears slightly as he looks down to see blood seeping through his shirt.

"Come on," Zoe says, taking his hand.

"I'm f-" Finch stops midsentence as Zoe glares at him. He lets her lead him through her apartment and into the bedroom. Finch raises his eyebrow at her choice of room but doesn't say anything. Zoe sits him down on the edge of the bed and leaves the room. She returns with a first aid kit in her hands. She sets it down next to him and proceeds to help him take off his shirt. Zoe carefully pulls off the old bandage coving Finch's gunshot wound. She pours some peroxide on a tissue and carefully cleans Finch's stiches. She can hear Finch's quick intake of breath from the pain. But Zoe knows she has to clean for infection. So she continues to clean the wound. After cleaning the wound, Zoe places a clean piece of gauze over the wound and tapes in down.

"Thank you Dr. Morgan," Finch grins and Zoe sits down next to him.

"Well, someone needs to look after you," Zoe breaths, leaning over to kiss Finch again. He runs his fingers down her back and her hand finds his jaw. Her hands slide down his neck to his chest as his hands simultaneously slide down to her hips. His lips find that one spot on her neck and Zoe can't help but moan in pleasure. She carefully pushes Finch back onto the bed and lets him take her to bliss.

* * *

The next three weeks pass by quickly and it is an interesting three weeks to say the least. Being back together with Finch is a bit strange for lack of a better word. Zoe is slowly letting Finch back into her life. He understands her dying caution of him – he did completely push her away. But their relationship is on a steady incline.

Tired of eating takeout food, Zoe decides to cook dinner one night. Finch sets the table as Zoe makes them a fancy stake.

"Red or white wine?" Finch asks Zoe coming into the kitchen.

"Could you actually grab me a soda?" Finch carefully turns to face her, still reliant on his cane.

"Really?"

"Really." The corners of Finch's mouth twitch upwards as he grabs himself and Zoe a can of diet Pepsi. He sets the drinks down on the table and Zoe brings their food over. They both sit down and Zoe places a large portion of her steak in her mouth. It doesn't taste quite right but she just hopes that Finch doesn't care.

"How did you figure out the case anyway?" Zoe questions, taking a sip of her soda. It's been three weeks since Finch figured out the mystery behind Axel Temple and Zoe is starting to find it ridiculous that she still doesn't know what happened the day. She knew that Tomas Elliot was dead – he had apparently attacked Reese and John had defended himself but that was all she knew. Zoe smiles as Finch turns slightly red in embarrassment.

"I just put the clues together." Zoe raises her eyebrow in mock anger.

"That's not an answer."

"Well, um," Finch begins a bit nervously before being interrupted by Zoe.

"Oh, come on Harold. How did you solve this puzzle?"

"It's stupid," Finch mumbles quietly, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose, looking for a distraction.

"You know I'm going to keep asking until you tell me." Zoe teases lightly. Finch sighs in defeat.

"Well, you know the story of Batman right?" Zoe nods and Finch continues. "One of Batman's enemies is The Riddler. The Riddler's alter ego is Edward Nigma. And in the _Hush_ story arc, The Riddler teams up with Hush, whose real identity is Thomas Elliot. So there's our mysterious 'Tomas Elliot' and 'Edward N.' I had a strong feeling Mr. Temple was the perpetrator from the start. Then when it turned out he was in contact with a Tomas Elliot – who was friends with an 'Edward' – I put two and two together. I found some phone records in the name of 'Edward Nigma' that supported my theory so I ran with it. And it turns out I was right. Edward Nigma's phone records shows that he had been in contact with Tomas a little before people were murdered. Hit men for hire – it explains the large amount of currency in Mr. Temple's bank account. Mr. Elliot was the brains while Mr. Temple was the one who pulled the trigger. 'Tomas Elliot' is also an alias, but I can't find anything on his real identity. I don't know why he and Axel specifically chose to be Hush and The Riddler. Maybe they were just inspired by those particular villains. I guess that it doesn't really matter anymore though." Finch finishes talking and takes a sip of his Pepsi, not looking at Zoe. Zoe studies him for a moment.

"You read comic books?" She asks seriously. Finch merely blinks at her.

"That's the only thing you have to say?" They stare at each other for roughly ten seconds. Then they both break out laughing.

"But," Zoe says still laughing "How did you know I was in danger and where to find me?" Finch's smile slowly disappears.

"Right after I figured out Mr. Temple was the perpetrator I was informed that you and Mr. Reese were in danger. I called Detective Carter to find Mr. Reese and I tracked your cell to find you." Zoe is quiet for a moment. She raises her fork to her mouth but Finch suddenly reaches over quickly and takes her hand.

"You may not want to eat that."

"Why?" Finch rotates the fork in her hand and Zoe can see the raw meat on the other side.

"Ah," Zoe suddenly feels sick. _Oh God food poisoning._ "If you will excuse me for a moment," Zoe stands up and turns for the bathroom. Finch hesitates for a moment before standing up. He slowly makes his way to the kitchen.

Zoe comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later and meets Finch in the kitchen.

"You okay?" He asks, handing her a cup of peppermint tea.

"I feel fine for the moment," Zoe says, taking the cup of tea. "Oh God I hate getting food poising." Finch tilts his head the best he can.

"Do you try to eat raw food on a regular basis?" Zoe rolls her eyes.

"I don't _try_ but it has happened to me before," Zoe takes a sip of her tea. "Not all of us can afford to fly to other countries to eat lunch every other day."

"I do not fly out of the country to eat _every other day_." Finch replies a bit defensively.

"Ah, but you didn't deny it. So you have confirmed that you _do_ fly to other countries to get food." Finch shakes his head, unable to think of a good comeback.

Zoe yawns suddenly and Finch hides his grin. "Time for bed," Finch teases.

"Oh shut up."

* * *

Zoe groans softly as she sits in her car. She is meeting Carter for breakfast but Zoe is feeling nauseous.

"Damn steak," She grumbles to herself as she gets out of the car and walks into the diner. She spots Carter instantly and smiles despite her nausea. Carter stands up and they embrace as Zoe walks towards her.

"Zoe," they release from the hug "how are you doing?" Zoe sits down as she answers.

"I'm doing alright. What about you and John?"

"Everything's fine. What about Harold? How's he holding up?"

"He's doing fine and his recovery is going well." Carter gives Zoe a bit of a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're looking a little sick," Zoe shakes her head.

"I ate some raw steak two nights ago," Carter raises her eyebrow and Zoe sighs. "Yes, I know it's stupid that I couldn't tell it was raw before I put it in my mouth. I felt fine the night it happened but the past two days I've been feeling sick." Carter shakes her head slightly.

"I'm sure the feeling will pass by tomorrow." Carter offers, trying to reassure Zoe. Zoe shrugs.

"Oh, is Taylor still going to that camp?" Zoe asks trying to change the subject. Carter nods in response.

"Yeah, he leaves tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow? I thought he was leaving the thirteenth?" Carter shakes her head giving Zoe another concerned look.

"Tomorrow _is_ the thirteenth."

"Really?" Zoe is completely shocked that she was so off on the date. "With everything going on, I completely lost track of time…" Carter opens her mouth to say something but her phone interrupts her. Carter digs her phone out of her pocket and glances at the screen.

"It's Fusco, I have to go," They say a quick goodbye and Zoe sits alone deep in thought. After a few moments she gets up and leaves, heading to the nearest pharmacy.

* * *

When she returns to her apartment maybe an hour later, she finds Finch in the kitchen making a pot of tea.

"Zoe," he greets turning to face her. His face is instantly serious as he sees the fear on her face.

"What happened?" He asks limping towards her. He puts his hands on her shoulders to try to comfort her.

Zoe looks up at Finch, a cluster of emotions in her eyes. But fear and uncertainty are the dominant emotions standing out.

"Harold," she says quietly. "I'm pregnant."

* * *

**A/N: Wow everyone, thanks for reading! This is the final chapter in this story. So, thanks again for reading! I know that I left this story on another cliffhanger, but I bet that you all know what the sequel will be about. When the sequel will be out, Im not sure. I have a few other plot bunnies running around in my head for different stories that I want to write before I write the sequel - but I will write it at some point. With that being said, if you have any ideas for the sequel, let me know. Because I don't know what I'm going to do haha. **

**I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed. You guys kept me inspired to continue this story. So thank you. you guys are awesome :D**

**As always, let me know if I made any mistakes. I wrote this chapter in parts and over a long period of time and even though i read over it I might have missed something so let me know if I did. I hope that this chapter didn't come out rushed. As you read, the events took place over a span of time and I wanted to get right to the action. **

**So what did you think of this chapter/story? Love it? Hate it? Any cries of outrage? Leave me a review or PM. No pressure, but getting reviews is always nice. **

_**A special shutout to fellow fanfiction author Homeric, who inspired this whole story - this story is basically a sequel to her stories "Fix" and "Fixed". I made a lot of references to her stories in this chapter. Thank you for letting me continue your story. **_

**Random A/NII: Okay, so the season finale of season 2. Wow. I'm pretty sure everyone has seen if but I wont put any spoilers just in case. But wow. I was in tears half the time but thats just me. I don't know what the writers are going to do for season 3 but it will be brilliant. I'm a bit mad that POI got moved to Tuesdays at 10...its more of an inconvenience to me personally. Hopefully though CBS knows what they are doing and the time change will raise the ratings even more. If you haven't heard, POI is the 5th most watched TV show this year with an average of 16 million viewers i believe. The show totally deserves it. I'm rambling now so Im going to stop. **

**So I guess that's it. Thanks again guys. **

**~H**


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